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What a dominant of Football by the Blue Tigers at the 2018 Intercontinental Cup in Mumbai! Kudos to Chhetri's army for winning the title in style. There were several positives to take from India's win in the four Nation tournament- 'Captain Marvel' Sunil Chhetri's goal scoring spree, the rock-solid Indian defense and of course the overwhelming support of the Mumbaikars. All these factors contributed immensely to India's success during the ten-day tournament.
This victory would be a morale-booster for the players, who will now be confident enough to face stronger opponents in the days ahead. Though Team India dominated for most parts of the tournament, their performance against New Zealand in their final group game was not a satisfying one. The 1-2 defeat against the Kiwis not just reflected the flaws in Indian defense, but also the need for a perfect second choice goal-keeper.
The Mumbai City FC shot stopper, Amrinder Singh who was deployed instead of the usual goal-keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was unable to respond perfectly when the All Whites were on target. It was India's only loss at the 2018 Intercontinental Cup and the fact that it came in Gurpreet's absence signifies his role in front of the goal. He kept clean sheets in all the three matches he played for the Blue Tigers in the tournament.
With just six months to go for the all-important 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Constantine's men have very little time to overcome their shortcomings. India, who will be playing their first AFC Asian Cup in eight years (they last played in the 2011 edition at Qatar) need to put up a good show at the Asian level this time. Let us now look at three major concerns ahead of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup which is all set to kick-off from January 5.
#1) Performance against top-ranked sides/ Asian heavyweights
Though Team India qualified to the AFC Asian Cup after topping the Group A with four wins out of their six matches (four wins, one draw and one loss), their performance against the top ranked Kyrgyzstan side was not top-notch. The Blue Tigers earned a hard-fought 1-0 win at home against the Kyrgyz Republic side, who are currently ranked 150 (according to the new Elo rankings).
In the final match of Group A against the same opposition at Bishkek (away), Team India failed to replicate the result they produced earlier, thereby losing 1-2. Though India brushed aside the other teams in Group A- Myanmar and Macau, the fact to be noted is that both these teams are ranked 182 and 223 (according to Elo rankings) respectively. India's performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers was very disappointing, as they finished at the bottom of the five team Group with just one win out of eight games.
In the World Cup qualifiers, India struggled against the higher ranked sides such as Iran and Oman and even failed to defeat a slightly lower-ranked,Turkmenistan on both occasions. Their only win came against the Guam side who are currently at 207 according to the rankings.India who are currently 159 (in Elo rankings) will be up against the hosts UAE (ranked 74), Thailand (113th) and Bahrain (104th) in the Group A fixtures at the AFC Asian Cup next year. They need to fight hard against these top ranked Asian heavyweights to have any chance of qualifying for the next round. They need to learn their lessons from the defeats against the top-ranked sides (Iran, Oman) in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
#2) The away Performance
India were on a thirteen match unbeaten run, suffered a defeat at the hands of Kyrgyz Republic in March 2018 thus losing the streak. The loss against Kyrgyzstan came away from home at the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. India's 13 match winning streak started on June 2, 2016 after their win against Laos in the play-off round for AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
Out of these 13 games, India played eight at home and five away. In those five away games, India fought hard for their wins even against lower-ranked Cambodia (208) and Myanmar (182) sides. Another important fact is that, their 3-2 win against Cambodia in the friendly on March 22, 2017 was their first away win in an International friendly game since 2005.
Also, their lost 1-2 to a lowly ranked Guam away from home in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers back in June 2015. Their only win in the World Cup qualifiers came at home against the same opponents. This doesn't augur well if we need to perform well at the United Arab Emirates next year.
#3) More reliant on Sunil Chhetri
Team India has been over-dependent on their Talisman, Sunil Chhetri in the past 3 years. Chhetri was the major contributor for the Blue Tigers. Chhetri netted four goals during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, three in the 2015 SAFF Championship, two in recent frindlies and four in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
Chhetri accounted for 73% (8 goals) of India's (11 goals) in the recently concluded Intercontinental Cup. More players need to step for India in front of the goal. Only then, Chhetri can play his natural game without that extra pressure to deliver the results. Reducing the pressure to perfor can bring out the best from the second all-time active International goal-scorer.
